Improvement in spuds for dredging-machines



j# E. F. KITTOE.

Spud for Dredging-Machines.

Pa1emdfeb.9.1s75.

www- UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICEo EIJMUND FREDERICK KITTOE, OFCHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA.

IMPROVEMENT lN SPUDS FOR DREDC-INGvdtllAQHlNES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 159,685, dated February9, 1875; application iiled January 19, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND FREDERICK KITTOE, of Charleston, Charlestoncounty,

South Carolina, have invented an Improved Spud, of which the followingis a specification:

The object of my invention is a spud or anchor for dredging-machines,stationary batteries, Ste., the said spud consisting of a metallic bea-mcombined with wood filling-pieces, and provided at its lower end with apointed shoe, as shown in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure lis a perspective view, partly in section, of sufficient of the improvedspud to illustrate its construction; Fig. 2, a sectional plan; andFigs.3 to 5, sectional plans, illustrating modilications.

l-Ieretofore the spuds used for anchoring dredging-machines, die., havebeen made of wooden beams, about fifteen inches square, and from fortyt0 sixty feet in length, the spuds passing between guides at the sidesof the machine, and, when the latter is in operation, extending downwardand penetrating the bed of the stream.

Owing to the force applied to the dredge tending to displace themachine, and the increased leverage through which this force acts uponthe spuds, the latter are subjected to enormous strains,which,continuall y repeated, soon fracture the spuds, the replacing ofwhich is one of the most serious expenses connected with dredgingoperations.

Spuds consisting of castmetal sections riveted together have beenproposed, but,'owing to the expense of construction, their weight, andtheir liabilityr to break, are not of a character to replace the cheaperand more easily repaired wooden spuds.

In my improved spud I employ wooden beams, as heretofore, but merely asa filling for a central metallic beam or girder, A, conslsting,preferably, of plates a a, which constitute the opposite faces of thespud, united to a web, b, by angle-irons e, to which both the plates andwebs are riveted, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The lling-beams B I3, which are requisite to give body to the spud, andafford bearing faces for the guides, Ste., are inserted on both sidesthe web between the plates, with the outer faces iiu'sh with the edgesof said plates, and are secured in their position by transverse bolts cc passing through the fillingpieces and through the web, the shoe j'being secured at the lower end of the spud by rivets n n.

As the timber for the filling-pieces may be much inferior, both indimensions and quality, to that required to make. a solid spud, a savingis thus eiected, which partly compensates for theincreased costresulting from the use ofthe central metal beam, A.

The main advantage of the improved spud, however, lies in its greatstrength, enabling it to resist any stra-in to which it may besubjected, and imparting such durability as renders its employment,notwithstanding the greater first cost, far less expensive than that ofa wooden or castfmetal beam, requiring frequent repairs or to be oftenreplaced.

Two or more webs, as shown in Fig. 3, may be substituted for the singlewebb, this modiication being serviceable when it is desired to reducethe size ofthe llingpieces; and in place of a compound metal beam, A,the latter may consist of a single H or T beam, as shown in Figs. 4 and5, or of an ordinary iiitch, with thewooden beams bolted to the met-al.

I claim as my invention- A spud in which an iron beam, A, is combinedwith wooden pieces B Il, and with a pointed shoe, f, as set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDMUND FREDERICK KITTOE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES E. FOSTER, CHAs. ll. MOULTON.

